Lymington and Pennington Town Council calls on Hampshire County Council to reinstate one hour’s free parking on town’s High Street

LYMINGTON councillors are backing traders’ pleas to reinstate one hour’s free parking on the High Street as customer footfall continues to drop.

As reported by the A&T, shopkeepers and business owners say the county council’s introduction of charges after 20 minutes of free parking have had an “awful” effect on customer traffic and takings.

The traders have now joined forces to set up a petition calling for the reinstatement of one hour’s free parking and have already surpassed their initial goal with more than 2,500 signatures.

At a recent full town council meeting, Crystals and Boat House 27 owner Gary Saunders told members the High Street parking meters are “counterproductive”.

“We have all found that since the installation of meters the footfall on the High Street has dramatically dropped,” he said, “and many shop owners have seen their turnover dramatically drop by as much as 25%.

“We all believe the parking meters have been very much to blame for this dramatic decline. Proof of this is when I go to the bank weekly, and not always on the same day of the week, I count between 25 to 40 empty [parking] spaces on the street.”

He continued: “Hampshire County Council has ridden over all of us by going ahead and installing these meters.

“Hampshire County Council says [meters] work and help control congestion, and the meters work for people running small errands. What does that mean? Posting a letter maybe? Twenty minutes is not long enough to go to the shops and purchase anything.

“This is an insult to our intelligence. What kind of numpties do they think we are?”

He also warned that High Street trading could collapse “like a stack of cards” if and when one or two businesses close, and will lead to a third, fourth and more businesses closing.

Mr Saunders said if the county council has a funding shortfall they need to go to the government and manage their budgets better “instead of pillaging the public and traders”.

Buckland Ward councillor Hannah Phillips tabled a motion to reinstate one hour’s free parking on the High Street.

She said: “Whilst this council recognises the budgetary pressures faced by Hampshire County Council, this council believes the increase in charges will reduce footfall on the High Street and make life harder for high street businesses – especially our small independent shops.

“This council also believes that reinstating the previous one-hour free parking on Lymington High Street would mitigate the impact of the increased charges, increase footfall, and have a positive impact on the financial position of businesses in the High Street.

“Therefore, this council supports the current campaign by our High Street businesses to reinstate the one-hour free parking period on the High Street.”

She also called for the town council to request a meeting with the county council’s executive member for highways to discuss reinstating the hour’s free parking.

She also called for Lymington and Boldre division county councillor Barry Dunning, who sits on the town council, to ask a formal question about the meters at the next county council meeting.

Pennington Ward councillor Simon Morgan proposed an amendment to the motion calling for the town council to request the annual income figures and costs of the meters from the county.

Barry Dunning, Lymington Ward councillor, proposed a further amendment asking for county council data on the “effectiveness” of High Street parking restrictions.

He told the meeting he had voted “heavily against” the introduction of the parking meters during his first county council meeting. He said he has had numerous meetings with the county council’s highways portfolio holder since then and reiterates at every meeting that the meters “should not be there”.

Welcoming the proposed motion, he said it had also been indicated by the county council that other towns like Ringwood, New Milton and Romsey would also have parking meters installed. He added: “They haven’t done that. Lymington is the only town that has these restrictions.”

Pennington Ward councillor Thomas Brindley said he was “totally supportive” of the motion and amendments.

Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the original motion, which was seconded by deputy mayor Cllr Colm McCarthy, and the two amendments.

• The traders’ parking charges petition can be found at chng.it/LWm282RCgg

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